Developers can press ahead with the luxury flats

Protestors had won the right to a public inquiry to consider whether three beaches at Carlyon Bay near St Austell should be protected.

Work on The Beach complex at Carlyon Bay is already under way.

But work on the �200m holiday development was delayed pending the results of the inquiry.

'Great shame'

Developer Ampersand has already withdrawn applications to demolish the Cornwall Coliseum on the site and allow year-round occupancy of the flats, after protests.

But planning permission to build 511 holiday homes at Carlyon Bay was granted in 1991 and renewed in 1996.

Inquiry inspector Vivian Chapman QC recommended that the application be turned down, saying that the landowner had controlled admission to the site.

He has sent his report to Cornwall County Council, which is expected to endorse his findings next Tuesday.

Local resident Gloria Price, said: "It is a great shame, but we knew in the end the decision would be decided upon legal technicalities.

"However, whilst access and usage continue to be important issues, they are only two of the many problems surrounding this massive development. The wider concerns of building on this scale by the sea will not go away."

Andy Woods, director of The Beach's developers Ampersand, said: "Of course we are pleased with the result, but we were always confident of the strength of our case."